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12 THE EUCHARISTIC LETTER

Nothing in the world is poorer than this great Saviour who hides himself, not only under the reality of a piece of bread, but under its form and appearance, in an impoverishment and diminishment so great that a mere fragment of what seems to be bread hides him!

Medaille starts his exploration into “the poverty as lived by the members of a Little Design community” with the very mystical experience of the poverty of Jesus in the Eucharist. As Jean-Pierre says about the Eucharist: ‘The great savior hides himself in an impoverishment so great that a mere fragment of what seems to be bread hides him.’

We belong to a network of persons who desire to live intentionally in the ‘poverty of the little design’, deliberately directing our energies towards life’s enhancement. We will, in justice, put our portion of Life’s energies at the service of the whole.

We are encouraged in this new direction by the understanding coming forth in both physics and biology. “These sciences point to the realization that the part can produce the whole…. These ‘morphogenetic fields’ shape and direct the entire animate and inanimate creation. If a member of a biological species acquires a new behavior long enough, the morphic resonance will set up a reciprocal effect among all the members of the whole species. Morphic resonance can be worldwide, even cosmic. The implications are astounding! (insights gleaned from Barbara Fiand in Wrestling with God. She quotes Willis Jager, Search for the Meaning of Life)

We dare to believe that the contemplative-mystical ‘morphic resonance’ of The Little Design vision has a strong influence on our present mega-structures. When persons connect themselves to God’s field of compassion, they just become a force, a conductor of this Great Love-energy to others. It simply happens that ‘LOVE loves through them. Mercy and kindness flow through them…’ Their inner life of union with Love overflows into more loving relationships with others and with all creation. There is a constant gathering up of ‘more’ persons who bear the beams of Love.

This means, then, that Little Designers in their hidden, little, and self-emptied manner, are becoming part of changing/transforming the consciousness of our world. And all this happens in great mystery and poverty of spirit.

Can you lovingly accept that you are a ‘fragment’ of God’s love?

Comments

With the Eucharistic Lord Jesus as our model, and Our Lord's life before us in the Gospels ---it is a privilege to be a fragment of a most wonderful whole that fills the whole world with love. Love that is genuine and of God, unconditional and all-embracing. I pray for humility to be self-emptied this day and to cherish the hidden life as Jesus did for most of his earthly years.

A "fragment" seems so benign, non-threatening YET it consumes us, our very being, our souls. We accomplish much by simply being faithful to who we are because God created us-each with our own unique gifts - called to be faithful to that creation as we live our daily lives. That is how we are hidden. It is in our ordinariness, our being loved by God and sharing that LOVE that we are most effective. We are called, too, to be faithful to the promptings of the Spirit. We reach out and offer a comforting word, a tear shed, a loving embrace, a prayer - a fragment, indeed. Can we even begin to comprehend the magnificence of the One Who share a part of the God-self with each of us?

I really appreciated how the commentary for this week pointed toward a re-gathering and coming together of disciplines of thought and belief that result in the reunion of diverse and distant persons through thought, belief, and action energizing and animating our world. The fragments of love and light impacting the whole!

Two thoughts came to me as I considered the commentary and comments: First, I thought of the ancient Jewish teaching of Tikkun Olam, in which God created the world by forming vessels of light to hold the divine light. So much light was poured that the vessels shattered and the world consists of countless shards of the original vessels entrapping sparks of divine light. According to this teaching, the task of humanity involves freeing and uniting the scattered light, thus restoring and repairing the broken world to the divine image. Second, I thought of the story in which Jesus and his disciples feed the 5000, and afterward, Jesus asks the disciples to gather up the fragments of the break and fish - which appear to be without limit!

So, I am seeing all of us as being fragments of light and love, that only require us to see them as such, so that the divine image and body of Christ may be remembered, re-gathered and reunited.

I'm fascinated by that "mere fragment". When our mere fragmen, our remnant of faith or hope or openness is given to God,i do believe the Spirit will be able to effect in me that miracle of love once again!Our "Pattern"is "gentle and humble of heart",and when I have grown once again to another stage of my own true littleness and that littleness encounters the littleness of Jesus, who knocks on the door,it makes me bow, weep, sometimes dance,and yes,at times, have a certain fear of what the Spirit may be up to this time!(so grateful for your sharings!)

As I read this reflection, I am reminded of Catherine of Genoa's claim: "My me is God." Each mystic makes some attempt to capture into words their experience. Today, we are using the words morphogenic field to describe how far-reaching (universal) the power of this relationship can be no matter where we are located physically. Andrew Cohen uses this equation to describe evolutionary enlightenment: it is a journey from minus one (the ego) to zero (no relationship to life) to plus one (the authentic self's positive relationship to life.). This leap from something to nothing to the authentic self takes time, patience and a deep trust in the process of personal and collective evolution. ArleneK

Ah! Yes, this is it! I am growing more sure in my belief that it is this loving acceptance of being a small fragment, this being little, being self-emptied that, over time, effects our becoming one with God at the same time. We experience ourselves as “hidden with Christ in God” even though we live in these mortal bodies! Or like St. Paul and all awakening mystics, we cry out, "I live now, no, not I, but Christ lives in me." Such a mystery how all this intimacy with God transpires in an individual.

But what if there were small groupings of all these contemplative/mystic men and women around the world uniting, finding each other, gathering up, and networking ... then Eucharist - GREAT LOVE - would surely bear fruit in a world longing for this quality of loving and trusting to manifest. Love is the only transformative power and Source. It becomes again the paradox of our poverty becoming Wealth, our having nothing, becomes possessing all things!